toward an interfaith ritual for helping veterans transition to civilian life

[TC Davis]

Dear IVW members and friends of IVW, 

For a good while I've been thinking about the need for an interfaith ritual to help military veterans transition to civilian life.  There are richly symbolic ways in which civilians are turned into warriors, with drill training, marching bands, and rigorous physical ordeals that promote endurance and test character.  When military personnel are discharged, however, there is no ritual marking their transition.  It seems to me that we should not hold the military services responsible for creating this ritual.  They are responsible for rituals in the other direction.  

There needs to be an interfaith ritual for military veterans who are trying to transition to civilian life, and I believe that civilians should create it, not the military.

We might consider this ritual a rite of passage from one way of life to another, from one mission to another, from waging war to making peace (doing what one can to reduce the occasions that lead to war).  

This ritual needs to be interfaith because our armed services include men and women from many religious traditions, and because the United States is perhaps the most religiously diverse nation on the planet.

Here are some suggestions for the creation of such a ritual:

It should include activities of the body as well as the mind, because PTSD is an affliction of both the body and the mind. It would be good if the ritual could be something of an ordeal. The bodily activities of this ritual should be challenging, because warriors are proud of meeting difficult physical challenges. However, injuries and aging will make it impossible for some veterans to participate in rigourous physical activities. Fasting for a day might be a good moderate physical challenge; and fasting has served as a spiritual discipline in many religious traditions.

Introduction to some simple breathing exercises would be helpful, since breath meditation has proven to be very helpful for veterans with post traumatic stress.

The ritual should invite personal story sharing since this has proven to be therapeutic for many veterans suffering from post traumatic stress.  Care would need to be taken not to re-traumatize veterans through story sharing. Persons trained in grounding techniques would need to be present.

Civilians should take part in the ritual as well as veterans, because one of the ritual's essential purposes would be to help veterans find moral support and camaraderie among civilians.  

Care should be taken to make the words of the ritual as inclusive as possible since participants will come from diverse religious traditions, and increasingly these days, from none. One way to address this challenge would be to pose deep questions followed by ample periods of silence, and then perhaps an opportunity to write in a personal journal or share one's thoughts in a group.

The ritual should include music and visual arts since many veterans with post traumtic stress have found that these contribute to their resiliency.

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Do you agree that an interfaith ritual for transitioning from the military would be helpful?  Might it help to prevent veteran suicide?  Can you think of other suggestions for creating such a ritual?  If so, please email me.

Thanks!
-- Tom Davis
   IVW President

TCDavis

President, Interfaith Veterans Workgroup

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